POLITICS >VIDEO: Turkish PM Erdoğan hailed as 'sultan,' greeted with Ottoman army band

Like a conquering Ottoman sultan, PM Erdoğan (in bus) waves to supporters as a calvary-based mehter band leads the way to great fanfare in Düzce. AA Photo

A group of construction workers cheered for Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in Istanbul on March 26, hailing him as a "padişah" (sultan).

Erdoğan was walking to a helipad to depart for his electoral rally in the northwestern province of Düzce when cheering was heard from a building site across the road. "Long live our padişah," the workers chanted, in reference to the superlative royal title for the Ottoman Dynasty. Erdoğan saluted them in a traditional gesture of reverence before boarding the helicopter.

Likewise, Erdoğan was also received with a ceremony befitting "sultans" and conquerors at his arrival in the town of Düzce, where a cavalry-based "Mehter" (the Ottoman army band) accompanied his bus to the rally point.